Carolina had a 1-15 season in 2001. They also went 2-14 in 2010
But somehow it feels worse than even those years.
Even those seasons, George Seifert and John Fox at least were allowed to coach out the season.
It’s hard to think that CAR somehow feels like the days of Weinke and Matt Moore were better.
Like Carolina has had bad seasons but this feels almost apathetic
In 2010, we still had Deangelo Williams, Jonathan Stewart, Steve Smith, Jordan Gross, Travelle Wharton, Ryan Kalil, Charles Johnson, Jon Beason, Thomas Davis, and Chris Gamble and we knew we were getting the #1 pick.
In 2001, we had Muhsin Muhammad, Todd Steussie, Jeff Mitchell, Kevin Donnalley, Brentson Buckner, Mike Rucker, Mike Minter, some really promising rookies in Steve Smith, Kris Jenkins, and Dan Morgan, and the #2 pick since Houston was getting #1 as the new expansion team.
This year we have:
Derrick Brown - Really good young DT that can be a cornerstone for a while
Frankie Luvu - Severely underrated all-purpose LB who’s about to be a FA
Adam Thielen - Solid slot/#3 WR at this point currently playing as our #1.
Shaq Thompson - Great LB but on IR and about to turn 30
Brian Burns - Good pass rusher who can’t defend the run but wants top ED money anyway
Jaycee Horn - Good CB, but has played 17/45 games since being drafted
Bryce Young - Too small, not nearly as mentally ready as advertised, and significantly worse than draft counterpart CJ Stroud
No 1st round pick
So yeah, this is the bleakest outlook this franchise has ever had because you can basically already write off next season, the roster is devoid of top-tier talent, we’ve whiffed on 3 straight 1st round picks, and we’re in danger of losing 2 of the best players we have.
1-15 there were some bright spots to look forward to. I mean Smitty kicked the season off with a kick return for a TD. Every time he touched the ball it was exciting. Bottom line is while the team was bad there were little things to give you hope for the future. There is nothing like that now.
I still think Young will be fine.
I don’t know how it couldn’t be when you basically traded Jalen Cater, DJ Moore, 2024 first over all pick and two 2nd round picks for Bryce Young.
Nothing against Young, but that’s a lot to give up for just about any QB
I’m not sure this team is particularly worse than those teams.
The pain point is the fact they traded away their 1st round pick for 2024 which is likely going to be #1 overall.
